


Two in One Detectives

by Zerodyne



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game), Kamen Rider W
Genre: Action, F/F, Fluff, Kamen Rider W AU, Loosely connected, Mystery, first chapter is in first person, sayo tsugu and hina form a detective agency, shenanigans happen, the rest are in third
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25030750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerodyne/pseuds/Zerodyne
Summary: A (loosely connected) series of stories, based on an AU where Sayo and Tsugumi are bonded together and becomes the two in one hero, Kamen Rider W.Updates very slowly.
Relationships: Hazawa Tsugumi & Hikawa Hina, Hazawa Tsugumi/Hikawa Sayo, Hikawa Hina & Hikawa Sayo
Comments: 9
Kudos: 22





	1. A Rampaging B / Meat Prices Crisis

**Author's Note:**

> In another edition of AO3 user Zerodyne merging Bandori with the world of Tokusatsu, here's something about what if Kamen Rider W (pronounced as Double) are Sayo and Tsugu. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> **Update:** This is now a story series! Read the second chapter's notes for more details!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hikawa Detective Agency received a request to find Hagumi's missing smile. As Sayo, Tsugumi and Hina set out to uncover this meaty mystery, what shocking conclusions will they draw?

Fuuto. A city of wind and all the things inbetween.

I love this city. Even though there are some scums living on it, even though it's not the best place to reside... I really love this city. I suppose that's why I became a detective— to weed out all of those scums and protect this city from harm.

Ah... I suppose I have to begin with an introduction. My name is Hikawa Sayo, and I'm running an agency called Hikawa Detective Agency. This agency was passed down from my father... and also my mentor, Hikawa Soukichi. 

“Onee-chan!!”

Her voice rang like an alarm clock, I let out a deep sigh as my twin sister approached my desk with a gleeful smile. Her name is Hikawa Hina. While she's never trained to be a detective by my father, she's very intelligent... and most of the time, obnoxious.

“What do you want?” I asked incredulously, hoping not to hear any absurd plans from her.

“Uuh, what's with the sully face, onee-chan?” Hina pouted. “I know you're very cool and super hard-boiled, but can't you at least chill out for a bit?”

_Hard-boiled_... that's a title my father is famous for, and one that I'm always trying my hardest to achieve. But...

“I told you, I'm not hard-boiled,” I retorted, clicking my tongue. Not _yet_ , anyway.

“Then... what do you want me to call you?” Hina puts a finger on her chin. “Half-boiled? Boppidy-boiled?”

“It doesn't matter. Either way... what were you trying to tell me before?”

“Ah! I brought coffee and fries for you!” 

Out of thin air, Hina thrusted a tray, with a cup of coffee and a plate of french fries on it. I eyed it with mild scepticism... before surrendering to the scent of salted fries.

“Put it down.”

“Yippie~! I want to have some too!”

However, just as Hina placed the tray down... the agency's front door swung open, revealing two girls, one of them with hair that looks like fries— I meant... she's blond...

“Ooh! Kokoro, Misaki! Come in, come in!” Hina beamed, seemingly gassed by their appearance. 

“Yay! Hina! Sayo!” chirped Tsurumaki Kokoro, as bright as ever. I wonder how her mission to make the world smile is going...

“Kokoro,” the other girl, Okusawa Misaki, spoke up, trying to repress her friend before any chaos could ensue. “We're here for a request, remember?”

As soon as she said that, I stood up from my seat. “Request?”

Okusawa-san nodded. I immediately told Hina to prepare some more coffee, while beckoning the two to sit down.

“What's the issue?” I asked.

“We need your help to find Hagumi's smile!” said Tsurumaki-san immediately, getting straight to the point. Too much to the point, in fact, that I got confused instead.

“Find Kitazawa-san's... smile?”

Last time I've heard of Kitazawa Hagumi was a few weeks ago. She's been tending to her croquette family business with her father, making the best-tasting croquettes in Fuuto. What's the deal with her now?

“Kokoro, let me do the explanation,” Okusawa-san rolled her eyes, before glancing to me. “Sayo-san... Hagumi has been acting weird lately. She's been— how should I put it? —not as cheerful as usual. She spends her time sulking and frowning a lot more often... we tried asking her why, but she won't say a thing.”

“And you want me to figure out why?” I confirmed the case to them.

“Yeah... and also...” 

Okusawa-san grew a little uneasy as she spoke the next few words.

“...I think it has something to do with the **Dopant** that showed up recently. Since you specify on Dopant cases...”

I momentarily grasped my chin. The Dopant that has just showed up recently... that's intriguing.

“What's a Dopant?” Tsurumaki-san suddenly asked, much to the frustrstion of Okusawa-san.

“Y—you don't even know?! Do you even keep up with news?!”

“Wouldn't be the first one to not know,” I cracked a small smile, withdrawing to my desk and returning with an object that resembles a thumb drive.

“This is a **GaiaMemory** ,” I explained towards the two. “It's an object that contains the memories created from within the Earth. If connected to a person's body, it can grant them superpowers. Those people that use these GaiaMemories are called Dopants.”

“Huh! That sounds awesome!” Tsurumaki-san's face lit up, while Okusawa-san facepalmed.

“Trust me, it's not,” I continued. “While GaiaMemories grant people power... if not used properly, they also corrupt their minds. In other words, these GaiaMemories can make those people do evil things.”

Understandably, Tsurumaki-san frowned. “That's... not as awesome.”

I shoved the GaiaMemory into my pocket and pressed on. “This Dopant... I heard he or she have been attacking butchers. That's why you suspect Hagumi to be a part in this, Okusawa-san?”

“I don't want to... but yeah, that seems to be it,” said Okusawa-san.

“Then... in that case, I shall find out why.”

“Coffee!”

By the time Hina had arrived, Tsurumaki-san and Okusawa-san had already got up from their seats and bid their farewells.

“Eeeeh?! That fast?!” she wailed.

I pursed my lips and looked away. “You're the one that's too slow.”

“Uuu— Onee-chan!!”

_Splat!_

I felt something hit me... it was a rubber slipper that Hina just slapped onto my head.

“Hina!!” I yelled angrily, while Hina basked in laughter, shielding herself with the silverwares she's carrying. Lucky, I would've thrown down if it wasn't for that...

The noises must've distracted her, because the secret door disguised as a wall suddenly swung open.

“Sayo-san? Hina-san?”

The small figure of a brown haired girl emerged from the secret door, staring at us with mild perplexity.

“Ah, Tsugu-chan!” Hina immediately placed down the tray of unattended cups of coffee to storm in and hug the girl.

Hazawa Tsugumi. A mysterious girl I met and freed one night, which led me to these current state of affairs. I'd go on about the details... but that's another hefty story on its own.

Leaving those two for themselves, I picked up my coat and put it on.

Worming herself out from Hina's arms, Tsugumi glanced at me. “Sayo-san? Where are you going?”

“To find Kitazawa-san's smile,” I replied, putting on my tophat and leaving the agency building.

“So cool...!” muttered Hina, as I closed the door behind me. “Ah! I'm coming too, onee-chan!”

* * *

As I recognize this city as well as I recognize my backyard, sleuthing around it was admittedly very easy. Firstly, I need to find the person in question— Kitazawa-san. After asking around for information from the townspeople, I finally marked a spot where she would usually pass.

“Where is she? I don't see her...” Hina peeked from behind the wall we hid in, eyeing the surroundings. I pulled her back a little.

“Are you sure Hagumi-chan will show up, Sayo-san?” asked Tsugumi. Hina forced her to participate in this investigation, much to both my and her dismay.

“I'm positive,” I replied, before noticing something on the horizon. “Look!”

Kitazawa-san's head lowered, as she headed back to her family's croquette shop. 

“Wait here, you two,” I spoke, sneaking from cover to cover until I'm in close proximity to her. She looked extremely down for some reason... I wonder why.

I followed her to the croquette shop... and immediately, I started hearing some yelling.

“You're home late! Where have you been?!” 

It was the sound of a... _man?_

“I'm sorry, dad...” replied Kitazawa-san somberly. “I had to meet up with my friends...”

“We don't have time for that! Almost all the butchers in town are closing, and we're running out of meat! We'll be running out of customers soon too!”

“I... I got it...”

As quick as she had arrived, Hagumi immediately departed from the croquette shop. Still behind cover, I pulled out a camera and inserted a prototype GaiaMemory in it. The camera's wings unfolded, and I sent it flying to chase Kitazawa-san. With that settled, I stood up and about to enter the shop, when...

“Onee-chan!”

“Hina?!”

Hina was already in front of me, followed by Tsugumi who's struggling to catch her breath. 

“Sorry... Sayo-san... I... I told her to wait... but she ran off...” she panted.

I sighed deeply. “It's okay, Hazawa-san. Come on, you two.”

We entered the croquette shop, encountering the middle-aged man inside.

“Oh! Can we buy some, onee-chan?” asked Hina.

“Fine... but I'm not here for that,” I replied, turning to the man. “Are you... Hagumi-san's father?”

“Huh? What about it?” Mr. Kitazawa asked gruffly. “Don't tell me she got into trouble!”

“Not that. I wanted to ask you about the butcher attacks. All of the butchers in town are directly connected to you, so...”

“So you're saying I'm the culprit?!” roared Mr. Kitazawa. He's a really short-fused person, it seems. 

“No,” I calmly replied. “But I was wondering if you know anything about it.”

“Other than the fact that they deserve it?! No!”

“They... deserve it?”

Mr. Kitazawa slammed her fist on the table. “Damn right they do! Ever since my business started booming, the meat suppliers started ramping up the meat prices! They didn't like me ripping success off their meat!”

“But... without them, you won't be able to sustain your business, right?” asked Tsugumi.

“W—well... yeah,” Mr. Kitazawa rubbed his nape. “But still, the price they're asking is outrageous! And with less butchers around, they're asking for even more! Like that Kurosawa... or that damned Hayasaka. In fact, I think either of those two are the ones who attacked the other butchers!”

I pulled up a notepad and wrote those names down, keeping them in mind. “Is that what you think?”

“Yeah! Dirty players, they are!”

Shoving my notepad back to my pocket, I tipped my hat. “Well... that's all I have to ask you, Mr. Kitazawa. Thank you for your cooperation.”

I briefly turned to Hina, who already picked up a few croquettes. “Here ya go, sir!” she said, lending some cash to Mr. Kitazawa.

After that, we left the shop. Hina munched her croquette, while I checked on the footage transmitted from the Bat GaiaMemory... and what I saw isn't pretty.

“Dopant...!”

Both Hina and Tsugumi looked at me, urgency carved on their faces. We immediately headed to where I spotted the Dopant.

* * *

We arrived in front of a butchery, where the Dopant had already ransacked most of the place. It's now rampaging around the streets, sending the people around in a massive panic. The Dopant has gigantic muscles and had a bull-shaped head, complete with a pair of ginormous horns.

“Hazawa-san,” I turned to Tsugumi, and she immediately nodded. We both withdrew a **Double Driver** — a belt with two slots for two GaiaMemories —and donned it onto our waists. Tsugumi pulled out a green GaiaMemory named **Cyclone** , while I pulled out a black GaiaMemory called **Joker**.

“ _Henshin!_ ”

As we both shouted together, Tsugumi inserted the Cyclone GaiaMemory into the right slot of her Driver. The GaiaMemory disappeared, then reappeared on my Driver. I then inserted the Joker GaiaMemory into the left slot, and flicked the two slots.

**[ CycloneJoker! ]**

“Whoop! I gotchu, Tsugu-chan!”

Tsugumi fell unconscious, Hina managing to catch her. Meanwhile, I surrounded myself with a cyclone, before particles around me merged and formed a body armor— half-green on the right side and half-black on the left side, with shiny red eye visors. 

I... no, _we_ have transformed into **Kamen Rider W**. Tsugumi had transferred her consciousness into my body, allowing us to transform into this state.

“Sayo-san, be careful!” came the voice of Tsugumi, as my outfit's left eye flashed. Heeding those words, I approached the bull-shaped Dopant.

“Hey!” I shouted at it, and the Dopant immediately turned to me. 

The bull Dopant charged onto me at once, demolishing everything in its wake. Using Cyclone's power, I propelled myself to the air and descended with a flying kick towards the Dopant. It still stood strong, however, forcing me to leap away.

“Let's try this one,” I said, pulling out another GaiaMemory and replacing the Joker one with it.

**[ CycloneArmor! ]**

My black left side turned into a shining silver as a sword emerged on my hand. As soon as the Dopant charged again, I swooped in with a barrage of quick slashes, knocking and pushing the Dopant back. 

“Hazawa-san, use Frost.”

My right hand, currently controlled by Tsugumi, pulled the Cyclone Memory out from the slot and replaced it with Frost.

**[ FrostArmor! ]**

My right side turned from green to light blue. I swung my blade and launched a hail of blizzard, freezing the Dopant's legs in place. In spite of that, the Dopant had an ace up its sleeve— it shot fireballs out from its mouth, forcing me to deflect them with my sword and giving it the chance to escape.

“Wait!” 

Tsugumi and I switched our Memories back to Cyclone and Joker, as we tried to chase the Dopant. However, the Dopant fired off more fireballs from its mouth, slowing me down tremendously. Eventually... the Dopant disappeared from sight.

I sighed, before removing both Memories from my Driver and returning to my human self. “It got away...”

Tsugumi woke up and ran towards me, as we checked on the destroyed butcher shop. The sign barely clinging on its roof said; " _Kurosawa Butchery_ ". 

“Help...!”

I heard a faint voice from the wreckage. Immediately storming to it, I found a man trapped under a pile of rubble.

“Hina! Hazawa-san!” I called for them, and they knew exactly what to do. Together, we lifted the rubble up and freed the poor man from a sad demise.

“Thank... thank you...” the man caught his breath.

“Take it easy, sir,” I said, before turning to my twin sister. “Hina, call an ambulance.”

“Aye aye, onee-chan!” Hina moved at once, picking up her phone to call for support.

* * *

Back at our agency, the three of us entered the secret door into Tsugumi's chamber. It was a large room with bluish lights and whiteboards all over the walls, with various scribbles written all over it. There's also the **RevolGarry** — a mobile garage-like truck with eight wheels and a revolving compartment on the back —parked amidst the chamber.

“So... you think it's that Hayasaka guy Mr. Kitazawa mentioned?” asked Hina the moment we settled in, munching her croquette.

“Too early to say that,” I replied. “Hayasaka could be a victim as well...”

“There is a possibility...” Hina pursed her lips, before grinning. “But as a hard-boiled detective, you have to look at as many possibilities as possible, right?”

I clicked my tongue. “I told you, I'm not hard-boiled...”

“But you've trained with Dad!” Hina protested, but I had no time to argue back. I turned towards Tsugumi, who's still thinking over what happened.

“Hazawa-san, I need you to do a lookup,” I inquired her.

“Ooh! This is the part where you get to be super boppin, Tsugu-chan!” beamed Hina, ignoring whatever beef she had before.

Tsugumi chuckled and nodded. “Well, then... beginning lookup.”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes shut. This is her special ability, to gain access to every single knowledge on Earth from the **Planetary Bookshelves**. It's not as simple as it sounds, though— since storing that much knowledge is practically impossible for a regular person's brain, Tsugumi will have to manually do a lookup for whatever knowledge she require.

“First keyword: "Hayasaka",” I said. “Second keyword: "butchery".”

Using those keywords, Tsugumi would be able to narrow down the knowledge she's looking for.

“Anything else?” she asked.

I fell silent for a bit, before responding. “Yes. "Kitazawa Croquettes".”

A moment later, Tsugumi opened her eyes again. “I found a few... interesting tidbits about them.”

“Explain?”

“You see, Mr. Kitazawa used to supply their meats from Hayasaka Butchery... until he and Mr. Hayasaka had an argument. The two never spoke to each other since.”

“Not surprising,” Hina frowned. “That Mr. Kitazawa got a short fuse, after all...”

“Indeed,” I agreed. “What did they argue about?”

“Meat prices... just like before, Mr. Kitazawa complained that Mr. Hayasaka set the prices too high,” Tsugumi explained. “But Mr. Hayasaka argued that those are the standards now... and then they fought over it.”

Pacing back and forth through the chamber, I rested my chin on my fist. With that information, my next move should be...

“Do you have the address for Hayasaka Butchery, Hazawa-san?”

Tsugumi nodded. “I'll send it to your phone— wait, what are you going to do with it?”

By the time she asked that, I was already at the hem of the door. “I'd like to have a little chat with Mr. Hayasaka.”

* * *

Riding my motorcycle, the **HardBoilder** , I drove to where Tsugumi had pointed out earlier. It wasn't far from the Agency, I bet I can reach it in a few minutes...

“...what on Earth?”

The aftermath of chaos greeted me as I drove closer to the butchery, eventually arriving in front of it. There was a man there, weeping in front of the building— wrecked up and in smoke.

No doubt about it. The Dopant wasn't anyone from this butchery.

I got off from my bike and approached the man, still weeping and stressing over what happened.

“Oh, why...? I thought I was free from it, but no...!”

“Um, Mr. Hayasaka...?” I called. 

The man turned at once and shot an angry glare at me amidst all those tears. “Whaddaya want?! We're closed!! Isn't it obvious?!”

“I'm not here for your meat,” I clarified. “I'm investigating the Dopant that has been attacking you and all the other butchers in town.”

“I don't have time for questioning...!” the man wailed, still fuming and distressing over his business figuratively and literally breaking down. “That damn Dopant... she asked me to lower my prices!! Who is she to ask something like that?! But now my work is ruined!!”

Immediately, I spotted a few oddities in his choice of words. “The Dopant... asked you?”

“Yeah...!” he sniffed. “I can't lower my price, it's against standards!! But people just won't understand... that Kitazawa, for example!”

Tsugumi's lookup was proven correct once again. Still, a lot of things stood up to me... but Mr. Hayasaka shooed me before I could ask any further.

“Get off here! Can't you see I'm mourning?! Ugh... my businiss is dead...”

Abiding his words, I took a few steps back to my bike. If my hypothesis is correct... then I know what I must do now.

* * *

The sun was about to set as I rode the HardBoilder through the streets. If I arrive just in time, they'd still be open...

Arriving at my destination, I parked my bike in front of the Kitazawa croquette shop. They had just turned on the lights, and their rolling doors are still open. Good.

I stepped off from my ride and into the shop, where I was greeted with...

“Oi...! Aren't you done askin' me questions?!”

Mr. Kitazawa is as unfriendly as always, but I'm not here for him.

“Where's your daughter?” I asked immediately.

“Ah... Sayo-san?”

Kitazawa-san— Hagumi came from the back door, a puzzled expression on her visage.

“I'll get straight to the point,” I said firmly. “Hand me over the GaiaMemory, and I will do you no harm.”

Both Hagumi and Mr. Kitazawa's eyes widened, though for different reasons.

“What are you talkin' about?!” Mr. Kitazawa yelled. “You're saying that my daughter's a Dopant?!”

“I'm not just saying. I know for a fact that she is,” I calmly replied.

“That's a load of bull!! My daughter would never—”

“Your daughter _would_ , because you wouldn't stop getting angry at her!” I barked back, before turning to Hagumi. She looked anxious... confused.

“Kitazawa-san. I know you don't want your father to be angry anymore... but this isn't the right way to do it.”

Of course, that was just my assumption based on the only logical conclusion I've made. With his father being angry at her over high meat prices... her motive would be to force those sellers to lower them— but her inability to use her Dopant powers only made things worse.

“I... I don't know what to do anymore!!” Hagumi yelled, letting loose all of the pent up frustration.

“Kitazawa-san, no!”

Too late. She pulled out a GaiaMemory from her pocket and plugged it into her wrist.

**[ Bull! ]**

Hagumi transformed into the Dopant from earlier— Bull Dopant. Mr. Kitazawa cowered in fear as she watched his daughter turn into this heinous behemoth. “Hagu...?!”

“Graaaaaah!”

Hagumi roared and charged her horns towards me— if I wasn't quick enough to dodge, I would've been worm food. Fortunately, I managed to lure her outside instead.

“I have to force that Memory out...” I muttered, before putting on my Driver. “Hazawa-san!”

The Cyclone GaiaMemory appeared on my Driver's slot— the one on the right. When we both put on our Drivers, our minds are connected, hence she knows when I need to transform even from home.

“ _Henshin!_ ”

I slid the Joker Memory into the other slot, transforming into W again. 

“That's... Hagumi-chan?!” rang Tsugumi's shocked voice.

“Yes,” I replied, “and if we don't stop her fast... I fear she might lose control over herself.”

Hagumi growled and smashed the ground like an unhinged monster. To imagine her turning into this... I can't forgive the ones who gave her that Memory!

“Now...” I pointed towards Hagumi. “Count up your crimes!”

The Dopant responded with a roar as it threw a giant rubble my way. I rolled away just in time, Tsugumi already moving my right hand to swap out Cyclone with Frost.

**[ FrostJoker! ]**

With as much force we could muster, my right arm punched the ground, sending a wave of ice spikes from the ground and into Hagumi. The spikes trapped Hagumi at once... but she's not done. She spat fireballs from her mouth, forcing me to form an ice barrier in front of me.

“We have to shut that mouth down, Sayo-san!” said Tsugumi. Quickly, I pulled out a different Memory and swapped Joker with it.

**[ FrostGatling! ]**

Our W suit's left side turned purple, and my left hand turned into a gatling gun barrel. Without delay, I shot a hail of ice-powered energy shots from the rotating barrel straight towards Hagumi's mouth, covering it with ice.

“Hazawa-san, **Memory Break**.”

**[ CycloneJoker! ]**

We switched our Memories back to Cyclone and Joker, before I pulled out the Joker Memory from my Driver.

“This clinches it.”

I slid the Joker Memory into a slot on the right side of my waist, connecting our GaiaMemories together.

**[ Joker Maximum Drive! ]**

A cyclone propelled me to the sky, then launched me towards Hagumi.

“ **Joker Extreme**!”

Our halves split just as I about to land my feet on Hagumi. Both of us landed consecutive kicks, merging back into one as we landed.

“Waaaah!”

Hagumi dropped to the floor as the GaiaMemory she used flew out from her body, breaking into pieces.

“No... please, please don't hurt me!” Hagumi wailed, kneeling on the ground. Just from her voice... she's really terrified for what she had done.

“Sayo-san... can I handle this?” asked Tsugumi out of nowhere.

“Of course,” I agreed. When it comes to compassion and calming others down... Tsugumi is unmatched.

Letting Tsugumi take the wheel, my body moved to the frightened Hagumi. I then kneeled in front of her... and with a gentleness only Tsugumi could ever muster, my right hand patted her head.

“It's alright, Hagumi-chan. It's alright,” said Tsugumi softly. “We got rid of that monster within you. Everything will be fine now, okay?”

“B—but... I've done bad things...” sobbed Hagumi.

“It's not your fault. You were just confused, that's all...”

I slowly helped Hagumi to get back up on her feet, turning towards the croquette shop...and Mr. Kitazawa, who looked distraught.

“Dad...?”

“Hagu... I'm... I'm sorry,” said Mr. Kitazawa, fighting back his own tears. “My anger... made you really sad, huh?”

“D—Dad, no...!”

Hagumi quickly dashed to her father, wrapping him in a hug. “I should've told you how I feel directly... instead, I made all of this mess!”

“That's... that's because you're scared, right?” Mr. Kitazawa sniffed. “I shouldn't have made you scared, Hagu. I promise... I promise that I will be better.”

We watched as the father and daughter finally made up, before finally deciding to leave.

“Kamen Rider!”

Hearing Hagumi's voice, I turned to her briefly... and spotted her smile. I've found it.

“Thank you!” she beamed happily. I nodded as a response, smiling under my outfit.

* * *

With the advent of Kitazawa-san's smile, the croquette shop seems to run well in business. I heard that they decided to partner up with all the butcheries in town, gathering the best meat from all of Fuuto in their croquettes. Kitazawa-san looked cheerful again the last time I saw her, hanging out with her group— what was it called? Hello Happy... something.

Either way... this case is finally closed, and that's all I could ask for.

“...Hazawa-san?”

I noticed her from the corner of my eyes... spotting a hint of sadness adorning her face. She turned to me as I approached her, sitting right next to her.

“Hagumi-chan is so lucky to have a family to care for,” she muttered. “I, on the other hand... I don't even know where my parents are.”

It's true... for some reason, with all the knowledge stored within her, information about her parents' whereabouts are strangely missing and she's been stressing over it since.

“Well... at least you have something to look forward to,” I attempted to joke. “My parents aren't here anymore, so...”

Perhaps that was too tasteless, because Tsugumi quickly gasped. “Oh— I, I'm sorry, Sayo-san! I... I should've thought more about you...”

“N, no... that's fine. I understand,” I replied, awkwardly rubbing my nape. “Sorry I've made you uncomfortable... I was only trying cheer you up.”

Dammit, Hikawa Sayo! You had one job, to calm her down... and you messed it up so bad. 

Surprisingly, Tsugumi curled up a smile... it was so adorable, so contagious... I couldn't help but smiling back.

“I thought I was the optimistic half?” she remarked.

“Let me be optimistic too every once in a while,” I replied. We laughed together, warming up the previously somber atmosphere.

“...I guess I don't have to worry about my parents for a long while,” Tsugumi spoke after a while. “After all... you're my family too.”

There it was, that cheerful look on her face, never failing to uplift my soul.

“Of course, Tsugumi,” I nodded curtly. “We're a family.”

As expected, Tsugumi looked mildly surprised. “You called me... by my first name...!”

I can feel my smile turning a little cheeky. “That's what families do, right?” 

“Heeeey! Don't forget about me! I'm family too!”

Like a rocket, Hina appeared out of nowhere and crashed the mood, pulling our heads into a huddle.

“Of course you are, Hina-chan!” Tsugumi chirped, while I just sighed in exasperation.

This unlikely group of people... they're my family now, and I could never ask for anyone better than them.


	2. Revivals from D / A Skull-cracking Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At Christmas Day, the Hikawa Detective Agency recieves a case from an old friend... 
> 
> ( Part One of Begins Night. )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hi. Because I'm boo-boo the clown and I can't help myself, I'm turning this into a compilation series! Basically, this will be more like a collection of stories with loose threads connecting them. It will have an overarching plot, but that won't be the main focus. _For now._
> 
> Now, enjoy the first of this double (ha) part story, explaining how Sayo and Tsugumi became Kamen Rider W in the first place! This is majorly based on the Begins Night part of the first Movie War.
> 
> PS. I'll be writing these in third person now, because I want to. :p

December 25th, Christmas Day.

Sayo was staring longingly towards the white tophat hanging on the hanging rack, belonging to her hard-boiled father. The last thing he left for her before he died…

All because of her.

She imagined how Christmas would've been like with him around. While she and Hina might be older now, Soukichi wouldn't want to miss a chance to spend Christmas with his daughters… unless there's a case to work on, in which he'd most likely prioritize often. After all, as her father used to say…

_“As a detective, you must put your client above anything else. Risk your life for them, if you must.”_

Those are the words she lived by up until now, as a detective to continue her father's work…

“Onee-chan?”

Hina's voice broke her out from her trance yet again. Sayo turned to her… and immediately gasped.

“Bwah! Hina, what are you wearing?!”

“A Santa costume, obviously! We're gonna have a jolly boppin' Christmas time!”

It's true— Hina was wearing the bulkiest-looking Santa costume Sayo has ever seen, with a fake white beard to match.

Sayo sighed. “Is the costume necessary…?” 

“Of course it is!” Hina retorted, “we need to get into the holiday spirit, Onee-chan!”

“You're ridiculous…”

“As if you're not! What are you doing, staring at Dad's hat and looking sad like that?”

“I—”

Sayo choked. Hina knew about their father's death… but she didn't know what caused it. When it happened, Sayo just passed it off as an 'accident' and nothing more. Hina hadn't known that their father died… because of Sayo.

“Nothing,” Sayo cleared her throat. “I was just wondering how our Christmas would be with father.”

For a moment, Hina gave her the sceptical look that she hated a lot. But then… she just sighed and smiled.

“Dad would be happy watching you become a hard-boiled detective, Onee-chan.”

“I told you, I'm not hard-boi—”

“Eve-chan, watch out!!”

“Whoa!”

A loud thud rang across the agency, cutting across Sayo's words. The two turned… and saw a messed-up pine tree on the floor.

“Oh, no!” Hina screamed, running towards the fallen tree. Right near it, Sayo spotted Eve kneeling in panic, while Tsugumi scratched her cheek. She moved to the living room to see even more people— Moca, her reliable source of information, lay on the couch while munching bread. She seemed to have brought along Tomoe and Himari, who scrambled into the fallen tree as well. And then there's Kokoro, setting up— or rather, failing to set up —the decorations on the wall, with Misaki helping her and looking more frustrated by the second.

“How many people did you invite?!” Sayo yelled at Hina, feeling three different types of headache from the ensuing chaos.

“Enough for the fried chicken family combo we're getting, of course!” Hina grinned cheekily. “Question— should I get 12 thighs or 10 breasts?”

Suddenly, Moca leapt up from her seat and joined them. “Please pick breasts, Sayo-san~ They're perfect for Christmas~!”

Tomoe seemed to have overheard this, because she joined in too. “No way! Thighs are the way to go! We're getting more for less!”

“Tomo-chin~ You need to understand about 'quality over quantity'~”

“But thighs are better quantity AND quality-wise!”

“Ooh— someone's getting their opinion card revoked~”

“Both of you, stop!” Sayo cut across the two in utmost frustration, “nobody's getting chicken until we clean all of this mess up. And that includes YOU, Hina!”

“Uuuuh, you're a buzzkill!” Hina pouted. “Why does it have to be me?!” 

“Not just you— and besides, you're the one who invited all of them!”

“And you agreed!”

Moca lifted an eyebrow. “Did you just stop us arguing only to have an argument yourself…?”

“ **Shut up!** ” Sayo and Hina shouted at the same time.

“Jinx! You owe me a chicken thigh!” Hina snapped her fingers, pointing at Sayo.

“So we ARE getting thighs!” Tomoe chimed in.

As abrupt as the chaotic mess began, it ended as the agency's door swung open. Everyone turned to see who it was, including Sayo… who immediately recognized the person.

“Imai-san?”

Lisa scanned the agency, noticing just how chaotic it was with the fallen tree and all that. She then lets out a chuckle.

“Looks like I came at the wrong time, huh?”

“Not at all, Lisacchi!” Hina strode across the room with a broad grin. “We haven't ordered the chicken yet!”

“Ahaha, thanks. But I'm not here for the Christmas lunch.”

Sayo tilted her head, approaching the brunette herself. “Then, are you…?”

“Yeah,” Lisa nodded curtly. “I need your detective work.”

The room drew a collective gasp, but Sayo didn't look too surprised. From the moment Lisa entered the agency… she could smell a case brewing.

“Alright, everyone! Chicken dinner's cancelled until we finish the case! Get out, get out!” Sayo declared, followed with groans and murmurs from the guests.

“Waste of my Christmas time…” Moca grimaced, as everyone but Sayo, Hina, Lisa and Tsugumi departed from the agency building. 

After the hubbub ended, Tsugumi leaned in.

“Lisa-san, what kind of case brings you here?” she asked her, while Hina led her to her seat.

“Well…” Lisa twiddled her fingers, unsure on what to say. “It's about my little brother.”

“Your little brother?” Sayo parroted, a hint of surprise in her voice. “Pardon me for this, but… you told me he died when we were still in high school.”

“That's what I thought, but…”

Lisa's voice trembled the more she spoke, with the others waiting in anticipation.

“...I saw him alive, walking and staring at me.”

“Whaaaaat?!”

Hina couldn't help herself from bursting out, while Tsugumi recoiled. Sayo herself frowned, unable to believe what she had just heard.

“You sure you're not mistaken?” she asked at once.

“I swear by my life that I saw him!” Lisa insisted, showing no signs of lying. “Five days ago, I saw him passing by my house. I tried chasing after him… but he was gone. I knew it was him— not some illusion or anything like that.”

“Weird…” Tsugumi muttered. “Can a dead person really come back to life…? I must get to the bottom of this.”

“In the end though… it doesn't matter,” Sayo replied coldly, reaching for her black tophat and putting it on. “Dead people stay dead. There's no changing that.”

Lisa looked a bit perturbed by that comment, but she chose to keep her silence.

“Onee-chan, you can't be that harsh!” Hina protested. “Sure, it's unbelievable… but there's gotta be an explanation behind this, right?”

“Exactly.”

Sayo moved to the front door and swung it open, letting the cold December breeze inside.

“That's why I'm going to find that explanation.”

* * *

Sayo and Hina spent the rest of the day gathering as much information as they could about this case. At first, Sayo thought that this would be nothing but a case of coincidence… but the case seems to go deeper than that.

“From what I heard from that guy, apparently there's a rumor around Fuuto that people who died show up in front of their relatives,” Hina explained. 

“A rumor…” Sayo murmured, her phone lifted up and already in line with Tsugumi at home. “Did you catch that, Tsugumi?”

“Yeah,” Tsugumi replied over the phone's loudspeaker. “You think it connects with Lisa-san's little brother?”

“Too much for it to be a coincidence, isn't it?”

“I agree… but it doesn't make sense either way,” Tsugumi huffed. “I've looked up about Lisa-san's brother's death, and the accident he got caught in has a zero percent survival rate. There's no way he's still alive…”

“So who did Lisacchi see…?” muttered Hina, ruffling her hair.

“Definitely not her brother,” Sayo uttered. “But we have to confirm it regardless. Do you know where her brother was buried?”

“Yes, Lisa-san told me. I'll send the address over… don't push yourselves too hard, guys!”

“Hehe~ will do, Tsugu-chan!” Hina chirped, before Sayo closed the call. She lets out a sigh, immediately receiving the address right after.

“Not far from here,” she told Hina, “let's get going.”

The two headed off to a church where Lisa's brother was buried. Once they arrived, they were led by the priest there to where Lisa's brother's grave is… and within minutes, they found it.

“ _'Here lies Imai Daiki'_...” Hina mumbled the text on the tombstone, as she and Sayo each placed a flower on top of it. “So sad that he had to die young… Lisacchi must've had it rough.”

“Yeah…” Sayo huffed, putting her hat back on. “Imai-san wasn't really in the best condition after that. Fortunately, she's holding up well…”

“If that's his sister you're talking about, then I've seen her too.”

The priest suddenly chimed in, wearing a strangely relaxed expression.

“Unfortunate for him to depart so early. But that's just how death is— it is the end of the line for all of us, and we'll eventually reach that.”

Hina was just about to open her mouth, but Sayo tugged her hand and spoke first. “It is indeed. Thank you for letting us visit, sir.”

“No problem,” said the priest with a nod.

* * *

The two leave the church, with Hina proceeding to speak up the moment she's out of the priest's proximity.

“That guy's hella' weird…!” 

“I know,” Sayo rolled her eyes. “But we can at least confirm the body was buried there, and there's nothing wrong happening around it.”

“Ah—”

Hina's phone rang. She pulled it out, saw the caller, and answered the call immediately.

“Lisacchi?”

Sayo stopped to listen to her call.

“Yeah, we're currently working on the case,” said Hina through the call. “It's going boppingly smooth… eh? What?”

Hina furrowed her eyebrows, her unease rubbed into Sayo who had no idea what's going on.

“W—wait,” Hina babbled, “you're canceling the case?!”

“What…?!”

Sayo's eyes widened by the sound of that. Lisa was so eager for her to investigate before… why did she want them to stop now? Those questions were unfortunately left hanging in the air, as Lisa immediately hung up before Hina could ask anything else.

“We have to talk to Lisacchi about this!” she perked up, not looking amused at all. “Cutting off this case like that is just… wrong!”

“I agree,” Sayo nodded. “Let's get to Lisa's apartment. I know whe—”

Sayo stopped and froze. She saw something, standing from afar.

Or rather, some _one_.

“Eh?” Hina blinked, waving her hand in front of Sayo. “Onee-chan, you okay?”

“Look over there!” Sayo barked, pointing at something behind Hina. She turned around… and also froze at the sight she witnessed.

It was Lisa's brother, just like how Sayo saw him in photos. Still a young little boy, Daiki wore an expression of contempt as he walked away from the pair.

“After him!” Sayo shouted, and the two chased the boy. Unfortunately, the moment they reached him… they vanished.

“That's 200% Lisacchi's little brother!” Hina exclaimed, looking around for his presence.

_“So you're the ones trying to disrupt order, hmm?”_

An echoey voice rang, signalling the arrival of a figure floating in the air. It was a skeleton, wearing torn up rags and holding a scythe— a typical-looking reaper.

“And who might you be?” Sayo asked with a threatening tone.

 _“I am Death. I bring solace to those who need it,”_ replied the figure.

“A Dopant, then… should've known someone like you is behind all of this.” 

Sayo pulled out the **Double Driver** , placing it under her belly. It strapped onto her waist like a belt almost immediately.

“Hina, stay back!” she shouted, pulling out the **Joker GaiaMemory** from her pocket. “Tsugumi, let's do this. _Henshin!_ ”

She could feel Tsugumi's approval in her mind, as the **Cyclone GaiaMemory** emerged on the right slot. She pushed it in, while inserting the Joker GaiaMemory on the left one. With a flick on the Driver, she activated her transformation sequence… 

**[ CycloneJoker! ]**

...and transformed into W. 

Sayo chased the Dopant at once, but it flew away rather easily. 

“You're not going anywhere!” she declared, removing the Joker Memory and replacing it with the **Gatling Memory**.

**[ CycloneGatling! ]**

The suit's left hand turned into a gatling gun barrel. Sayo wasted no time pelting the Dopant with a hail of bullets, but it flew even farther away from her.

“Dammit, he got away…” Sayo groaned.

“S—Sayo…! That's…!” 

Tsugumi's voice alerted her to something. She turned, and…

“What…?”

Sayo could not believe what she saw. She was thoroughly convinced that her eyes were deceiving her, that they were playing tricks on her… but as he got closer, it seemed more real than ever.

Before her stood in flesh, wearing the same white suit and tophat as the moment he died… 

“...Dad?”

Hina saw it too, which means Sayo's not going insane. It is, without question, unmistakably him— Hikawa Soukichi, Fuuto's Ace Detective… and father of Sayo and Hina.

“No…” Sayo muttered to herself, refusing to believe what she's seeing. “Father's dead! This can't be him…!”

Soukichi gave a hint of a smirk, before pulling out a Driver similar to Sayo and Tsugumi's, but there's only one slot for one GaiaMemory. 

He took off his hat before pulling out a GaiaMemory… named **Skull**.

“ _Henshin._ ”

He inserted the Skull Memory into the Driver and flicked it. At once, particles began to emerge and coalesce around Soukichi's body, forming a body suit not too dissimilar from W's— but it was colored mostly silver and gray, and the helmet was shaped like a skull.

“N—no way…!” Sayo recoiled, her voice tremulous. Her whole body was shaking too, witnessing the transformation before her.

“Dad's… a Kamen Rider too…?” Hina muttered, still unable to comprehend what she's seeing.

**Kamen Rider Skull** struck Sayo when she was vulnerable, leaping forward and kicking her in the face. He didn't let up, landing an uppercut just as she was about to get on her feet. Sayo was flung around and beaten like a ragdoll, fear clutching onto her judgement.

After a very one-sided beatdown, Sayo was left keeling on the ground. Soukichi raised a handgun-like weapon and pointed it at her.

“Sayo, you have to fight!” Tsugumi wailed.

“I can't…! That's my father…!” Sayo croaked, resisting Tsugumi's urges to move her own body.

“You said it yourself, he already died! That's not him!”

“He… transformed! It must be him…!”

“No, Sayo! It can't be him!”

“No…! Tsugumi, you won't understand…!”

Soukichi inserted the Skull Memory into his handgun, aiming the barrel towards Sayo.

**[ Skull Maximum Drive! ]**

“Sayo… please, stop resisting! I'm begging you!”

But Sayo refused to move. Soukichi fired off a large blast from his handgun… and it landed square on Sayo's chest. She was blasted away in an instant before helplessly rolling on the ground. 

Her W transformation was canceled, as the suit disappeared from her body.

She looked up to see Soukichi, untransformed and towering before her weakened body. She also saw Hina, standing behind him and looking shaken beyond belief.

“Fa… ther…” Sayo whimpered, but she had no energy to move. Everything hurts.

Soukichi briefly glanced at Hina, before turning to Sayo again. “Does she know?”

“Know…?”

“Know that _you_ are the reason I died.”

Whatever pain she felt before was incomparable to this one. It was as if a hundred arrows just pierced her heart from every side… and she hated that feeling.

For a moment, Sayo saw Hina's face. She was stunned. Frozen. Rooted on the spot. How would she feel, knowing that the sister she looked up to… killed their own father? Sayo was too scared to find out the answer.

And she was too tired.

Within seconds… everything went black for her.


	3. Revivals from D / The Birth of W

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Losing her confidence, Sayo recalled what led to her first transformation with Tsugumi.
> 
> ( Part Two of Begins Night. )

December 26th, after Christmas Day.

The sun was barely reaching its peak as Sayo stared into the vast ocean before her. She could feel the sea breeze brushing against her skin, and the calming chirps of seagulls all around her.

Where she stood was a rock island just a few clicks off from Fuuto. It was uninhabited, as there are no signs of life but a few ferryboats departing and arriving at the dock nearby.

She turned to her side to see the remains of a tall building, now wrecked and dilapidated. There was still debris surrounding the wreckage… it must've flown all over the island with that explosion.

That explosion… from one year ago.

“Sayo!”

She heard a familiar voice and immediately turned towards it, spotting Tsugumi walking her way. She looked concerned at first, but tried to break out a smile soon after.

“Somehow, I had a feeling that you'd be here…” she spoke, stopping a few feet away from Sayo. “It's been such a long time since this whole thing started… since our **Begins Night**.”

“Yeah…” Sayo huffed, staring back into the ocean again. “It  _ has _ been a while.”

It was as vivid as ever, the recollection of those events playing in her mind…

* * *

Clank. Clank. Clank.

It was an unsettlingly quiet night, as Hikawa Soukichi and her daughter traversed through the building. Sayo hugged a large briefcase as they made their way, looking around to see if there's any presence beside them.

Once they reached a pipe room, Soukichi lifted his hand to stop Sayo from proceeding.

“Guards,” he muttered. 

As mentioned, four suit-wearing guards are stationed around the area.

“We have to take them out,” Sayo replied, squinting to see the guards.

“No,” Soukichi shook his head. “I'll distract them, while you recover our client's target.”

“Are you sure, father…?”

“Don't worry about me. Worry about the client. Get that girl and the briefcase, then come back to me.” 

Sayo gulped, though she tried to keep her face stern. “A—alright.”

“And listen,” Soukichi turned to his daughter and gave her the most serious stare she had ever seen, “whatever you do, keep her safe. Put your life on the line, if you must.”

Receiving a nod from her. Soukichi then took no time to charge, taking on the four guards at once. 

Sayo didn't move straight away— she watched as her father effortlessly took down one guard with a body slam, then another one with a kick, and then… 

“That's enough playing around, boys.”

Sayo's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe what she saw.

A figure hovered before Soukichi, bringing more guards with her. The figure looked like a voodoo doll with no legs, with stitches and skulls strewn all over her body, wearing a predominantly red garb over her magenta skin.

“Fufu~ I didn't expect to see a guest today,” said the floating figure in a sly tone. “Too bad, we don't accept visitors right now.”

Each of the guards took out a GaiaMemory and plugged it into their necks, transforming them into faceless mooks with pitch black skin.

“Then I'll have to force my entry,” Soukichi replied coolly. “I have a policy of not using GaiaMemories during my cases… but it looks like I'm gonna have to.”

Sayo watched as Soukichi withdrew something from his coat— a strange metallic device with a slot for one GaiaMemory… and it drew a surprised reaction from the floating figure.

“Th—that's… the **Lost Driver**!” she babbled, “how did you get that?!”

“I have my sources,” Soukichi replied, placing his Driver under his belly while taking off his hat. The Driver wrapped around his waist, as he took out a GaiaMemory himself.

_ “Henshin.” _

He inserted the GaiaMemory into the slot and flicked the driver, and…

**[ Skull! ]**

...a metallic armor formed around him, the helmet taking the shape of a skull complete with large black eyes and rims on the mouthpiece. He also wore a white scarf and the tophat he took off earlier.

“Now,” Soukichi pointed towards the floating figure, “count up your crimes.”

Sayo had no clue on what happened next— everything was a blur of explosions and loud bangs as Soukichi engaged in a much more ferocious battle. She had seen her father fight a couple times before, but at this level, using a GaiaMemory…? This was the first time.

An explosion caused a railing to fall on top of her, but she managed to roll away in time, still holding the briefcase tight. She recalled what she was told to do, and immediately left the battle to find that girl.

That girl… 

“H—hey!”

...ended up finding her instead.

Sayo turned to where that voice came from. A girl around her age stood before her, with short brown hair and a small figure. She looked rather anxious with all the commotion that's going on.

“...um, are you the one who's going to get me?” she asked, hesitating to take a step further.

“Yes,” Sayo nodded curtly. “Come on, we have to—”

But the girl listened to Sayo no more, turning around and running away from her.

“Hey! Wait!”

Sayo gave chase, as this brown haired girl led her to some sort of laboratory. There, the girl took something out from a drawer— an opaque metal case which she placed on top of it.

“Uhm…” she turned to Sayo with uncertainty. “The briefcase, please?”

“Oh— here,” Sayo obliged, handing the briefcase she was practically hugging the whole way through. The girl took it and cracked it open, revealing a pair of belts, similar to what Soukichi just wore— but with two slots instead of just one.

“This is incredible…” the girl mumbled. 

She opened the metal case after that, revealing six GaiaMemories inside.

“GaiaMemories…?” Sayo raised an eyebrow, turning to the girl. “Don't tell me, you're the one who made them?!”

But the girl was way too fascinated with the belts and GaiaMemories to answer that.

“The other person who wears this can connect their mind with me and become a very powerful being…” she explained, picking up one of the belt devices. “They will gain access to a bottomless supply of knowledge, giving them power and insight no one has seen before…!”

“Hey! Answer my question!” Sayo shouted, pulling the collar of the girl's shirt. “Don't you know how much pain and suffering these GaiaMemories have caused?!”

The girl whimpered, shaking as the device fell off her grasp. 

“I—I… I was only doing what they told me to…” she choked, meeting Sayo's furious gaze with fear. “Besides, we can use this power… to stop those people from misusing the GaiaMemories…!”

“The damage's been done!” Sayo hissed back, but she lets go of the girl. “These GaiaMemories made people suffer… I won't ever forgive that.”

The girl took a step back and casted her gaze to the ground, looking as if she was about to cry. Sayo suddenly felt a little guilt for piling all the blame on this girl— after all, she at least had a thought on stopping the GaiaMemory-related crimes.

“There she is!!”

The silence was short-lived, as two mooks similar to what Soukichi fought earlier came rushing into the room.

“Stay back!” Sayo shouted, turning around and putting her arm in front of the girl. She then charged rather recklessly towards one of them, storming in with a punch into the face...

But the mook didn't even budge. He grabbed Sayo by the throat and picked her up, tossing her body against the wall and accidentally knocking the girl aside, throwing her into an open pod in the corner of the room. 

Sayo got up to her feet, only to realize that the girl was locked up in that pod… and her body faded away.

“What...?!” 

There's no time to dwindle on that, because the two mooks are coming her way.

And then they fell. 

Soukichi moved into the lab with his handgun-like weapon raised. He removed the GaiaMemory from his ' **Lost Driver** ' and returned to his former state and approached Sayo… with fury written all over his face.

“What did I just tell you?!” he roared. “All you had to do is to keep her safe at all cost!”

“I—I'm sorry…” Sayo muttered, bowing her head down. She had never felt as ashamed as she did now.

Soukichi lets out a sigh, lowering the tip of his hat. “Save that for later. Come on, let's get her back.”

The two left the lab and scaled the stairs to the building's rooftop, where an ominous, towering machine resides before them. Sayo squinted her eyes and gasped, as she spotted the girl from earlier, now unconscious and trapped inside of a pod within that tower machine.

“Stay put,” said Soukichi, as he moved towards the machine. Sayo could sense coldness from his voice and decided to oblige. She can't risk breaking her father's trust and ruining this mission again… 

Soukichi stood in front of the pod for quite some time, before finally managing to break that girl out from the machine. He pulled her out from the pod and walked her back to Sayo—

Then she heard a bang. A loud bang of bullets hammered from their chambers.

Before she could comprehend it, before she could process what happened… Soukichi collapsed to the ground, blood spilling on his back.

“ **NO!!!** ”

Sayo screamed and ran towards Soukichi's fallen body, ignoring the mass of armed men surrounding them, or the whizzing sounds of a helicopter's rotor hovering above her. Nothing mattered to her now, except for her father.

“No, no! Dad, please no…!” she whimpered, kneeling right beside her father as he barely clings to his life. Still he smiled, taking his hat off and putting it on Sayo.

“Continue… this case for me…” he croaked. “Promise me… you'll protect that girl…”

“No…!” Sayo shook her head, tears starting to fall from her eyes. “I'm not strong enough, Dad… I need you…! I'm not ready to do this myself…!”

Soukichi flashed a grin. “Then grow… and mold yourself, so you can be ready…”

“Dad…!”

“I know you can do it, Sayo… I believe in you. And… don't tell Hina about this, alright…?” 

With one last effort to smile, Soukichi reached and grabbed his daughter's cheek… before falling limp, as the last signs of life left his body.

Sayo fell silent the moment it happened. She could barely process it. Her father, her mentor, the person he looked up to the most… died before her. 

She couldn't take it, she couldn't contain it. She screamed as much as her lungs could allow, tears drenching every corner of her face. The truth was suffocating, endlessly piercing her heart. She wanted it to stop, she wanted it all to be just a dream, she wanted to wake up and find his father smiling at her, teaching her another sleuthing technique or spending his time with her… but this was as real as it could get.

“Watch out!!”

She didn't even have the time to mourn, as the brown haired girl pushed and dragged her away from a hail of bullets, pulling her behind the cover of a wall.

“We have to fight!” said the girl, handing her over the belt device and a black GaiaMemory. “For the ones who misuse the GaiaMemories… I need you to join me!”

Sayo wiped her tears and glanced at the belt… before taking it and putting it on. The girl smiled, putting the belt on herself. She slid a green GaiaMemory on the left slot, while Sayo placed her GaiaMemory on the right. 

And then…

* * *

“...then we became W for the first time,” Sayo muttered, casting her gaze to the ocean. “Since then… to pay back my crimes for letting my father die, I continued to be W.”

“And also why you kept the truth from Hina-chan all this time,” Tsugumi added.

“She looks up to me the way I look up to my father… I can't let her know that.”

“But she ended up knowing anyway… Sayo, you really need to stop doing that.”

“Doing… what?” Sayo turned to Tsugumi, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Keeping things to yourself, obviously!” Tsugumi replied with a surprisingly stern expression. “You're not the only one trying to pay back your crimes…”

“Eh…?”

“There's one detail in the story that you missed, Sayo.”

* * *

From that tower machine, Soukichi managed to gain entry into the Planetary Bookshelves. He glanced around through the spanning white void filled with bookshelves, all containing the world's knowledge.

And then, he spotted the brown haired girl, sitting by the corner and looking terrified. Soukichi approached her and smiled softly.

“It's time for you to leave,” he said.

The girl shook, still remaining on the spot. 

“I… can't leave,” she whimpered. “The man named **Terror** told me that I couldn't…”

Soukichi sighed and crouched beside her. “Have you ever decided on something for yourself? Without anyone telling you what to do?”

The girl raised her head. “For… myself…?”

“Yes. That is a choice that differentiates humans,” Soukichi continued, “between those who live their lives to the fullest, and those who don't. People who choose what they want to do, and stick by it… those people live their lives to the fullest.”

The girl fell into silence, thinking over what Soukichi had just said to her. 

“Whether I want to live to the fullest… or not…”

Soukichi stood up, pulling the girl on her feet.

“You don't remember your name, do you?” he asked.

The girl shook her head. 

“Well… the woman who sent me to get you gave you one,” he explained. “You are Tsugumi. Hazawa Tsugumi.”

“Hazawa… Tsugumi…” 

“Now, with that identity… will you choose to do things for your own self?”

* * *

“I made the choice to escape, but I was still doubting myself over it,” Tsugumi explained, “and I couldn't make the choice in time. When I do… your father has already died.”

“Tsugumi…” Sayo muttered, noticing the sadness in her eyes.

“That's why I chose to be W… to pay back my crimes of not being able to make my own choices before. So—”

Tsugumi took Sayo's hand and held it tight with both of her own. She glanced towards her with a soft, reassuring smile.

“We're in this together, Sayo… you and me, becoming W to wipe the sins of our past… to protect everyone in need. Don't just keep it to yourself, alright?”

Sayo's mouth fell slightly open, taken aback by the warmth emanating from Tsugumi. Really, when it comes to being kind, Tsugumi is unmatched… 

“You're right,” Sayo replied, a smile finally emerging from her lips. “After all, you and I… are two detectives in one.”

“Yeah!” Tsugumi nodded, smiling radiantly. Sayo was starting to feel overwhelmed by her positivity… but there's no one she'd rather be encouraged with other than her.

Breaking their brief moment of solemn silence, Sayo's Stag Phone rang. She picked it up at once… and the voice on the other end surprised her.

“Onee-chan! I'm trailing Lisacchi as we speak!”

“H—Hina?! You've been investigating this whole time—?” 

The surprises don't end there, as Tsugumi handed her over a bunch of files gathered from the police. She herself hadn't investigated anything further, with all the doubts she carried from the previous day.

“Of course I do!” Hina replied. “It's like what Dad used to say! We gotta put our clients above anything else!”

“Right…”

Sayo landed on a sudden realization that Hina finally knew that she caused their father's death… and her stomach lurched. Hina seemed to notice this from the other end. 

“Um… Onee-chan,” she began, “even if you feel like Dad's death is your fault… I'm sure it's not. So… don't beat yourself up over it, 'kay?”

“Hina…”

Feeling a tremendous wave of relief, Sayo unconsciously smiled again.

“When all of this is done, I'll tell you everything about Dad. Okay?”

“Yeah! That's the spirit, Onee-chan! Alright— I'm heading off now, see ya!”

Sayo closed the call and shoved her phone into her pocket, before turning to Tsugumi.

“Now, we have to finish what we've started,” she spoke confidently.

“Alright!” Tsugumi nodded, getting fired up herself. “Leave this to me, Sayo!”

Tsugumi closed her eyes and entered the **Planetary Bookshelves** , accessing the knowledge of the Earth for herself.

“Look up these keywords, Tsugumi— _'death'_ , _'resurrection'_ , and _'Imai Daiki'_ ,” Sayo ordered. It took Tsugumi a while to respond.

“...I've narrowed it down, but there's still too many results,” she replied soon after.

“Let's see what the files have to offer, then.”

Quickly scanning through the police files, Sayo noticed a pattern. All of the prior appearances of these 'ghosts' occured on the same date every month— the 19th. She recalled what Lisa told her before… she saw her brother appearing five days before Christmas. That means…

“Tsugumi, new keyword! _'19th'_!”

“...I got it!” Tsugumi responded, opening her eyes with a satisfied smile. “The culprit is a priest that leads a cult called the _'Order of Silence and Darkness'_ , deceiving many by preaching about death and resurrection. He's been operating this cult behind curtains, with no one suspecting him.”

“A priest…” Sayo muttered, before she realized something. “Don't tell me— it's the priest me and Hina saw yesterday?!”

Tsugumi gave a brisk nod. “It has to be! I'm one-hundred percent sure!” 

“Then we have no time to lose,” said Sayo, shoving the files back into her bag. “Let's go… Partner.”

“'Partner'… that has a nice ring! I like that!” chirped Tsugumi. The two laughed together, as they set off to finish this case once and for all… 

* * *

Lisa's trail led Hina to an empty mansion building, spotting both her and the priest from yesterday.

“I knew something was up with that creepy priest!” she muttered, seeing the two enter the mansion. Hina followed them inside, spotting Lisa at the top of a set of stairs.

“Lisacchi!” she called, running towards her.

“E—eh?! Hina?!”

Lisa looked quite befuddled, but Hina decided not to beat things around the bush.

“Lisacchi, it's not safe here!” she said. “That priest guy is not boppin' at all— he's not what you think he is!”

“...I know already.”

“What?!”

Lisa uncomfortably shifted her gaze aside, trying to not meet Hina's eyes.

“I know that he's a monster. It's fine,” she explained. “I'll do anything to see my little brother again…”

“Lisacchi!” Hina shouted furiously, startling Lisa. “Dead people stay dead! There's no changing that! All you have to do is to accept it… and to live on with their memories! Otherwise, the people who died won't be happy!”

“H—Hina…”

“That is nonsense!”

An arrogant voice rang from the top of the staircase… and it belonged to the priest.

“With my teachings, I can unite people with the dead! Just watch!”

The priest ran off to a room north from the staircase. Hina gave chase, with Lisa doubtfully following at her heels. When the two broke in the room…

“What in the world…?!”

They were greeted with a row of caskets spread all across the room, giving it an eerie vibe. What didn't help was the priest, laughing maniacally through this.

“Those who are desperate to see their loved ones? I can unite them together… in DEATH! And they will be together forever!” he declared.

“You are the creepiest freak I've ever seen,” Hina groaned. “And I've seen loads of freaky people!”

The priest transfigured into the ragged grim reaper figure Hina saw yesterday— the **Death Dopant**.

“Now, then! Miss Imai Lisa…” he pointed at her, “time for you to meet your brother.”

“No… no!” Lisa whimpered, taking shaky steps as she backed away from the approaching Dopant.

“Yeah! Leave her alone, you freak!” Hina shouted, stepping in front of Lisa to protect her.

“You nuisance… I'll bring you death as well!” roared the Dopant, as he brought a strong gust of wind to fling Hina to the air, crashing into one of the empty caskets.

“Now… it's time,” he repeated.

“I don't think so!”

Sayo and Tsugumi stormed into the scene, with Sayo now shielding Lisa from the Dopant.

“Can't I get a break?!” the Dopant growled.

Though she was still slumping against the casket, Hina's eyes sparkled to see the two. “Onee-chan! Tsugu-chan!” 

“Father Roberto Shijima… Death Dopant! We're going to put an end to your foul crimes!” Sayo declared.

“Sayo…” muttered Lisa, admitted amazed by Sayo's bravery.

“Haha! How are you going to do that, when you can't even stop your own crime?!” mocked the Dopant. He faded away… and from behind the caskets, **Kamen Rider Skull** emerged.

“Father…” Sayo muttered shakily, as Soukichi made his approach.

“Out of the way, Sayo!” he demanded. Sayo could feel the coldness of his voice pierce her heart, but she remained stalwart.

“You told me… to put my client above anything else,” she replied firmly, “to risk my life for them if I have to! That's why I'm not letting you touch her!”

“Are you going to disobey my orders again?!” Soukichi roared. “Are you going… to kill me again, Sayo?”

Sayo stared deeply into the Skull's helmet eyes… before punching him in the face.

“For my client… I will.”

“What… who the hell are you?!” rang the Dopant's voice.

“Just someone who won't let this city cry! I am… no—”

Sayo turned to Tsugumi and smiled, to which she smiled back with glee.

“—we are,” Sayo continued, “the successors of Hikawa Soukichi! We are detectives… and Kamen Rider!”

Pulling out the Double Driver, Sayo strapped it onto her waist. She then pulled out her Joker GaiaMemory from her coat pocket.

“Let's go, Tsugumi!”

“Yeah!”

Tsugumi puts on her Driver as well, standing by Sayo's side. 

_ “Henshin!” _

Shouting together, Tsugumi slotted the Cyclone GaiaMemory on the left slot, transferring it onto Sayo's Driver. Sayo then slotted in her Joker GaiaMemory and flicked the Driver.

**[ CycloneJoker! ]**

Tsugumi fell unconscious, while the W suit formed around Sayo.

“Now… count up your crimes!” declared both of them. They charged forward, lunging towards Skull with all of their might. Their battle turned out different this time— W threw in flurries of punches and kicks at Skull, overwhelming him as he was pushed literally against the wall.

Completely in sync, Tsugumi replaced the Cyclone GaiaMemory with something else… 

**[ FrostJoker! ]**

W's right side turned from green to light blue, as their right hand fired off a blizzard that freezes Skull and the wall behind him. Not wasting their chances, W charged forward and punched Skull when he's still frozen, knocking him through the wall and onto the outskirts of the mansion.

Leaping down from the hole they created, W approached Skull who's struggling to his feet. He tried firing at them… but W raised an ice barrier to block the bullets, before countering with a leaping punch. 

Being flung away once again, Skull's form dissolved… revealing the priest, who has been impersonating Soukichi all along. 

“No…! It won't end like this!”

He struggled to his feet and plugged his GaiaMemory into his arm… 

**[ D—Dummy! ]**

The Dopant briefly took shape as the ragged grim reaper… before it scrambled and shuffled into other forms— Lisa's brother, Soukichi, Skull…

“Ah, I get it now!” Tsugumi spoke up. “The Dopant's name isn't _'Death'_ , it's _'Dummy'_! He's been impersonating the dead people all this time to fool others!”

“Since we dealt enough damage, that should reveal his true form…” Sayo deducted. 

Sure enough, after shuffling through many different shapes, the Dummy Dopant settled on his original form… an unimpressive looking, faceless doll-like figure, chrome silver in color and carved with markings all over his body.

“You… I can't believe you got in my way like this!!” shouted the Dopant. “Everything went well until you showed up!!”

“Sorry, but that's just how we do things,” said Sayo, removing the Joker GaiaMemory from the Driver. “Isn't that right, Partner?”

“Ahaha, right on!” Tsugumi replied. 

Sayo slid in the GaiaMemory into the slot on the right side of their waist, preparing for a Memory Break.

**[ Joker! Maximum Drive! ]**

W's right fist emitted a strong blue light, as the concentrated ice energy gathered on it.

**“Joker Freeze!”**

At once, W dashed towards the Dopant before splitting their halves and creating a massive blizzard between the two halves. The blizzard passed by the Dopant and froze them solid, just in time for W to reunite into one, turned around and punched the Dopant with the charged right fist. The ice broke and so did the Dopant, as he was sent flying away, his GaiaMemory forcibly removed from his body and cracked into bits.

“And that… clinches it,” Sayo muttered. “Let's leave him to the police.”

* * *

_ The case finally concluded on a high note. Imai-san had finally learned to accept her brother's death, and to live on with his memories. I, too, chose to do that with my own father's legacy. _

_ Speaking of him, I've told Hina everything about what happened in that Begins Night with Tsugumi's help. Even though it was mostly my error that caused the incident… she's still bent on not blaming me at all. I guess… she still looks up to me, even after all of that. I'm somewhat relieved to know that. _

_ And as for my partner…  _

“Onee-chan!!”

Hina's voice stopped Sayo from typing. Sighing, Sayo raised her head.

“What?”

“Almost time for chicken dinner!! Apparently there's a split bucket option, so we're getting thighs AND breasts! Yay!” 

Hina's eyes glimmered with excitement, as she turned to Tsugumi and glomped her.

“H—Hina-chan—” Tsugumi gasped for breath.

“Ooo— this is boppin'!” Hina tightened the hug. “Onee-chan, come join us! This is a super fun way to warm ourselves in the winter!”

“I—I'd rather not,” Sayo refused, pink hues emerging from her cheeks.

“Hnng—” Hina pouted sharply, taking her arms off from Tsugumi. “I don't take no for an answer!”

“What are you— hey!!”

Too late. Hina had already taken hold of Sayo's hand, yeeting her away from her chair and pulling her close. Then, with one fell swoop, she wrapped both Sayo and Tsugumi into a big group hug!

“Yay! Now we're all together!” Hina cheered, a satisfactory grin decorating her pate.

Tsugumi lets out a chuckle, deciding to encase Sayo and Hina with her arms as well. “I guess this isn't too bad!” 

“Tsugu-chan agrees with me!” said Hina. “Your turn, Onee-chan!”

Sayo lets out a tired sigh, before encasing her twin sister and her partner within her arms. She cracked a small smile. The warmth of this family they made… it  _ is  _ not bad at all.

The group hug lasted a while, and Hina was surprisingly the one who broke off first.

“Oh, I just remembered! I haven't told anyone about the chicken yet!” Hina snapped her fingers. “I'll go tell them! See ya later, Onee-chan, Tsugu-chan!”

Like a bolt of lightning, Hina dashed off outside.

“Hina-chan is quite something, isn't she?” Tsugumi commented with a broad smile.

“Yup… she sure is,” Sayo replied, smiling radiantly too. “But I'm glad to have her by my side. And you, Tsugumi.”

Tsugumi nodded. “Mhm! I'm glad to have you too, Sayo!”


End file.
